Thinking about newspaper and a dye disaster.

First of all, it has been a few days since I blogged. I had a little depression setback. Now I warn you this is going to sound really stupid. Ok, I admit it....really stupid. We all have known or heard about the crazy cat ladies. We all know I am crazy. Now in my neighborhood I am that "crazy chicken lady". For real, I kid you not. "why?" you may ask yourself. I know I would be asking. Well, because first of all I fell in love with one of my chickens. Chip, the little white rooster that I was going to keep even though we are not supposed to have things that crow here. The other three hens? No bonding at all. I watch them and sometimes laugh but no love shared either way. They are chickens after all. About a week ago I went out to check on the chickens (meaning Chip who always ran to me and wanted to be picked up). No Chip....I noticed a hole under the fence. The neighbors next door have two neglected dogs that bark nonstop. I climb to the top of the fence, hysteria building. I see something white in the corner of their dog poop filled yard. Ok hysteria has hit a peak. I beat on their door and ask to see the back yard. The woman (pig) says some nasty remark about f'ing chickens. I scream out" he wasn't a chicken, he was my pet!" and take his lifeless body from the poop filled yard. Then I think about things like 22 shotguns. The sad thing is, it's not the stupid dogs fault. They have no interaction, no toys, no nothing. I had a funeral with Stacie and the kids and cried my eyes out and then took to my bed. I love the drama of that phrase...It's very Southern, "taking to your bed." But I was so sad and felt like I lost a little friend and now everyone knows my secret. I am the Crazy Chicken Lady of the neighborhood. You can laugh if you want too. I picture myself hysterical now and it is kinda funny. I am sure in a few years it will be really funny. Just not yet. Right now it merits a secret giggle. So that is why I haven't posted. Although I have been busy around the house. I am making over a room. The inspiration is Zen. As in peaceful, calming, relaxation. Which obviously I could use. I have been taking pictures but I am not done yet. The curtains are holding me up. The issue is money. Everything in the room is being done dirt cheap or even free. That is my challenge. So I have four curtain panels that will be perfect. Except they are hot pink and Daniel wants to claim the room as his for the nights he is here so he doesn't have to hear the fishwife screams coming from a tween girl who doesn't want him in the "girl room." ......"EVER." So I get some dye....Great idea huh? At first I decide to use some navy blue that I actually found unopened at a garage sale. Then I think about it and decide to do dark Chocolate Brown. So I read the instructions and decide to use the washer with the very hot water and let it agitate for thirty minutes. Guess what? it is still pink, yes it is. So I add the whole bottle of the navy blue add boiling water and let it agitate for forty minutes. The result? Still pink. The lesson? Microfiber has polyester in it and it doesn't take dye. Ok, that was a big waste of dye and time. I pull them from the washer and notice that the back of the panels have changed color...The color brings back memories. The color is PUCE! I have always read a whole lot and when I was in sixth grade I read something that talked about the color of "puce" and it became my favorite color. Because it was weird and strange and no one believed that puce exsisted. Never mind it was ugly, a cross between a sickly purple and muddy brown, I was standing by it. Mo mom said it even sounded gross. Did you know of such a color? Well that is the color of the back of these panels and not I am not using the puce side either. I am thinking of melding and sewing newspaper to the hot pink fronts and making newspaper curtains. Here is some newspaper fabric that are curtains. It could work, I think. I made a newspaper dress before and it worked. So we will see, otherwise I just may have to "give puce a chance." xoxoxooxox the crazy chicken lady P.S Susan from Shabby and Frills is hosting a Patriotic Bunting Swap. You know those cute flaggy, pennant things....They are so simple to make and it is a simple swap to participate in. Please click on the link on my sidebar and come play with us...You know You want to cause WE WANT YOU!

Mothers Day Crafting

Daniel and Olivia (Grandkids) came over the night before Mother's day and wanted help putting something together for my oldest daughter Stacie. Daniel is her son and Olivia is her niece although she lives with her now. Single moms have it rough on Mother's day so I was happy to help. Just a quick digression here...I was a single mom of three kids 18 months apart. There were about 10,9 and 7 on this particular Mother's day. I had worked a twelve hour day and picked them up from daycare. I told them I was going to take a quick bath and then I would help get them ready for bed. ( Mothers Day had not been mentioned) I came out and the whole living room and dining room was covered in Silly String and shredded paper and half blown up balloons and all I wanted to do was cry over the mess.. Instead I put on my happy face and hugged them. Then I put them to bed and cleaned for over an hour..Now I look back and smile but then it was just a "Mom is totally and completely overwhelmed." moment. So back to the kids coming over. Daniel made his mom a Carrot Cake from scratch with cream cheese frosting which I thought was really cool. I did nothing on this but found him a recipe and took him to the store. The writing on the cake is sad, but sweet cause he did it. The cake was amazing by the way..... Olivia wanted to go the crafty route. I had found a couple of ideas on Pinterest so off we went. Lemon Lavender soap in a goatsmilk base. I had the lemons, the soap base she bought with her own money at Michaels with a coupon. It was 5.00 and then we wrapped it in scrapbook paper and raffia. We still have half the soap base left. This stuff is yummy and a quick craft. We decorated up a yard sale basket with a newspaper rose and some yellow paint. Made some just like "Mary Kays Satin Hands" stuff. Olivia went nuts over this. We called it making a potion. In fact she wants to do this for her Birthday party. You just find a cute little jar and spoon, mix the Dawn soap that is apricot colored for soft hands and sugar and fill the jar. You use it like a scrub and it really does make you hands and arms super soft. Our jar is a little on the messy side but she was thrilled with it. Then we put together my favorite craft. I found a little terra cotta pot and saucer at Goodwill. Olivia painted them turquoise and then sealed them with mod podge. We glued it all together with a little glass bowl from the dollar store and added a button on the top. Gummy Bears completed it. Check this out, a handmade gumball machine! The kids were so excited with the gifts they made and Stacie was thrilled. I had a wonderful Mother's day too. I was taken to a wonderful dinner and My son got me a beautiful orchid and Stacie and the kids got me a greenhouse and some gardening things. I have more things to post along with a couple of tutorials but I think I will do that in a few days......Have a Happy Day! xoxooxoxmelinda

It feels like summer already!

The last two weeks have been in the mid to high 80's here in Kennewick. I remember snow in May in Utah and I gotta say, " This is a nice change!" It may even be too hot. I sure like getting to putter around the yard this early though. I still am totally addicted to Pinterest. I look at it everyday and just drool. All the ideas and the things I want to do. It really is amazing to me that there are so many ways to do so many things...From making your own laundry soap to how to's for house repairs and pictures of cute baby animals. I have a hard time with the cute baby animals. I want them all in my backyard. It really is hard to restrain myself to 4 chickens, a big dog, two cats, a bunny and a fish. Sighhhhhhhh. I finished a quilt top today. This is one of three UFO's that I have. I struggled with what to do with the rows. It was a round robin row quilt that Barb hosted. It was Barb, Robin, Jen and Hetty along with myself. The theme I picked was bright stars. When I laid it out I noticed the purple. I love purple, so I bought some purple. Here it is... I love me some bright colors for sure. I think I am going to do a soft fleece back, purple binding, straight line quilting and maybe some orange rickrack. When I get it done I am going to try to find a picture of the other ladies finished quilts and post them, because I am sure that mine is the last one! Olivia and I made a hat for the Kentucky Derby. We just decided it would be fun. I thought it was pretty outrageous with all the flowers. Then we went online and googled outrageous hats....Oh my word, there are some doozies. I love them. We might have to revisit the hat making. She loves to wrap some chiffon around herself and prance around in her hat. When I was a kid it was my moms nightgowns...one of them was cut like a princess dress. Weird I know, but kids are weird and wonderful anyway. While she was prancing we went outside and made some mini greenhouses from mason jars and plastic pots. We had gotten some cuttings from the neighbor and I want to see how they do. Most are roses, but there also is a lilac and a snowball bush. I used a pinterest tip of course. Use cinnamon instead of buying rooting hormone. Way cheaper and something almost everyone has. Now we will see how it works. I played in the dirt, cinnamon and stems and Olivia wrote out the names on masking tape and stuck them on the jars. Some of the plants we knew the names, others she got creative on...I noticed an Olivia and auntie rose among other things....Haha. We had fun and I am anxious to see how they do. You don't know until you try. A tipsy plant pot was something I always wanted to make. I saw them several years ago on someone's blog. You basically thread clay pots on a plant stake. Then I saw someone gilded the lily and painted them and added dots. I looked for clay pots and they weren't cheap. I did find some cheap plastic one in colors {!} at Walmart. So I didn't have to paint them first. I picked black then added some white dots and ribbon then sprayed them with sealer. YAY! Tipsy pots. I like them. Are they perfect? Not really but they are fun. I just have to show you a picture of my feathered babies. They are so cute. These two are Rhode Island Red hens...Named appropiately, Ginger (from Gilligans Island) and Lucy. Guess from where. This is Chip, my favorite. I am hoping Chip is not a rooster because I love him. He loves for me to hold him. Yes, I snuggle my chicken. I am crazy that way. The black chicken is Butter. When he was a fluffy little thing, his butt was a creamy yellow like butter. Hence Butter the chicken who I am pretty sure is a rooster. I can't have Roosters here and having had one before, I am not sure I want one. I love the crowing but they can be mean little buggers. I could lose my lips to a rooster. You know if I forgot myself and snuggled one. Oh well! Have a happy day! melinda xoxoxoxoxox P.S. This quilt is going to become a Giveaway quilt on my blog...I think it is a good way to celebrate my new life near my kids, so stay tuned!!!!!!!